Viewpoints

Viewpoints are like cameras: they define a position in the scene from which your user can view the scene contents. Use viewpoints to show your scene from the best angle, or guide your user along a tour through the scene.

Creating a viewpoint

Every scene has one default viewpoint. It is unlisted, and cannot be deleted. This allows your scene to run even if no custom viewpoints are created.

To create your own custom viewpoint,

1. click the Viewpoints node of the scene explorer,

2. click the more icon, and

3. select the type of viewpoint you want.

The new viewpoint will appear. While invisible to your user, the viewpoint in the scene editor appears like a simple camera. Edit the position and rotation of the viewpoint like you would any other mesh until it frames your scene as you like.

Types of viewpoints

Just as there are different cameras in the real world, the 3D scene also offers different viewpoints to help you show your scene in the best way.

Managing viewpoints

Viewpoint Type	Description	User Freedom
Orbit	The most common type of viewpoint. Your user can pan (look around), zoom, truck (move left and right) and dolly (move forward and back). Imagine leading your user to a hill near a configurable house: they can look from your suggested viewpoint, but easily can zoom in, walk down to the house, or look away from the house.	High
First Person	A viewpoint where your user can pan (look around), but cannot truck or dolly. Imagine your user sitting in a chair inside a room of the house: they can turn their head to look around the room, but cannot get up to move somewhere else.	Medium
Overhead	An unusual viewpoint, used to give an architectural overview. Imagine your user looking down at a printed blueprint of the configurable house. There is no depth. No vanishing point or perspective. They can only truck and dolly (slide the blueprint around), but cannot turn their head away from it, or rotate it.	Low

Viewpoint Properties

To manage your viewpoints, first find the viewpoint visually in the viewport or logically in the Viewpoints node of the scene explorer. Select it, so it is highlighted in both the explorer and the viewport.

While the viewpoint node is selected, in the explorer to the left you can…

Using Viewpoints in Snap rules

• Direct Edit the viewpoint by clicking the eye symbol next to the viewpoint. You will now be in viewpoint edit mode viewing the scene through that viewpoint, as the information message at the top of the scene explains.

  • Adjust the viewpoint by navigating through the scene as normal (middle drag on your mouse to pan, CTRL+middle drag to truck/dolly, scroll to zoom). See the viewpoint properties update in real time in the properties expander on the right.

  • Save your changes and exit the mode at any time by clicking Done in the message.

  • Exit the mode at any time by clicking Cancel in the message. The viewpoint is unchanged.

• Duplicate the viewpoint by clicking the context menu next to the name and then clicking Clone.

• Delete it by clicking the context menu next to the name and then clicking Delete.

Example 1: a page changed rule

While the viewpoint is selected, in the properties pane to the right you can adjust other properties, as described in the properties sections below.

Example 2: a virtual tour

Example 3: an output document

Viewpoint Property	Description
Name	The name of the viewpoint. Try to keep the name unique. Sharing a name across multiple meshes is allowed, but makes run-time manipulations with Snap difficult.
Position X,Y,Z	The location of the viewpoint in the scene.
Offset X, Y	By default, the viewpoint's target point or mesh is at the center of the screen. Adjust these parameters so your user sees the target off-center. This can be useful to artistically frame an object to one side (inviting it to be configured wider), or to leave space for any hotspots or annotations that might appear alongside the object.
Field of View	Increase the number to have more of your scene visible, but lines can become distorted (like a fish-eye lens). Decrease the number to show less of your scene (like a telephoto lens).
Projection Mode	Use Perspective for a realistic look (objects farther away appear smaller, and parallel lines leading away from the viewpoint meet at a vanishing point). Use Orthographic for an architectural look (objects are always the same size, regardless of distance, and there is no vanishing point). Projection mode cannot be selected for first-person viewpoints.
Target Mode	When the user begins using the viewpoint, where should they be looking? Choose either a fixed Point (specify it by typing in a vector), or a mobile Mesh (specify one by selecting it). If the mesh moves, the camera will automatically follow it. This guarantees that as your configured product changes in the scene, the viewpoint will always be pointing at it.
Allow Orbit	Can the user orbit around the target when using this viewpoint?
Allow Pan	Can the user pan when using this viewpoint?
Allow Zoom	Can the user zoom in and out when using this viewpoint?
Minimum Target Distance	How close to the target can your user move? Allow them to zoom close enough to appreciate any details, without getting so close they clip through the side of the mesh, resulting in a confusing appearance. A value of 1 means the camera can be no closer than 1 scene unit from the orbit target (by default, the orbit target is the origin).
Maximum Target Distance	How far away from the target can your user move? Give them enough flexibility zoom back, without letting them move so far away the meshes disappear. A value of 1 means the camera can be no farther away than 1 scene unit from the orbit target (by default, the orbit target is the origin).
Prevent Clipping	Should the user be prevented from getting so close to a mesh that they clip into the mesh? Turn this on to automatically set the minimum target distance to include all objects in the scene, preventing any clipping. (This option only appears for the Orbit viewpoint.)
Limit Orbit Angles	Should the ability to orbit be limited? For example, you may only want the user to move around the front of an object, but not get lost by orbiting around to the back of it. When enabled, other properties appear to specify these limits.

If your configurator has separate pages for different parts of your configured product, use a page changed rule to write the current page’s name to a hidden field in the configurator. Then use a scene rule to animate the camera to a viewpoint associated with that page. For example, your first “welcome” page to a custom home configurator may be associated with a “welcome” viewpoint: an orbit set at a distance from your product, as though you are seeing it from the street. The next page, called “front door options” may be associated with a first-person viewpoint set on the porch of the home. Another page, called “building schematics” may be associated with an overhead, orthographic view looking down at the custom home with the roof hidden, so the walls and furniture can be seen.

Create a series of viewpoints, and then create a button which animates the camera to each viewpoint, with a pause of 5 seconds between each one. In this way you can walk from the street up to the front door, walk through the front door into the living room, walk to a corner of the living room and look back to see how the kitchen and front door are both visible, and then walk into the kitchen.

Create a viewpoint that frames your product. Then refer to the viewpoint in a scene render output. This will generate a 2D "snapshot" image that can be used in other output documents. Learn more about Scene Render outputs.